Chirp, rattle, whistle, trill, or croak: how does your community sustainbilize?
Welcome to "nouveau monde", a four-handed newsletter to better understand how to make the world better through the lens of retail. This is #50.
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Le menu du jour at nouveau monde is about poetry and community.
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Two Birds
by Anthony
Two birds on a wire
One tries to fly away
And the other watches him close from that wire
He says he wants to as well
But he is a liar
I really love that song from Regina Spektor, at the same time soft, powerful and meaningful. In case you don’t know it, you should listen to it, it’s at the end of this newsletter, as usual.
I immediately thought about it when I read this news from Bloomberg : after claiming that they would achieve a net-zero carbon goal by 2040 or 2050, it seems that some of the major US banks are back-pedaling unobtrusively.
Let me recall you a few things :
In 2015 (7 years ago…), at COP 21, almost every country in the world signed the Paris Agreement stating that we should make all efforts to stay under 1.5°C above pre industrial temperature worldwide. Which basically means to be able to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Pledging a net zero goal at a company scale is a non sense :
First let’s talk about « net ». Every company, (almost) every human activity, generates carbon. So, willing to be net zero induces compensation. And that might result to less efforts as compensation usually means to just pay for it.
Another problem is that usually most carbon emissions of companies are located downstream, which means that their carbon footprint often is in the use of their product, not in the product itself. And banks are a great exemple on that matter.
Banks might be the greatest tool to achieve a country net-zero goal
Well, banks have the money and we usually need money to start new things that will enable us to drive the change.
It was great to hear all the financial institutions claiming their net-zero goal, not that far away, at Glasgow last year.
What happened ? Fear, fear and greed…
First fear : legal matters. Now that the big bosses made their nice pledges on stage of top conferences, the legal department is frightened that some people would attack the bank if it doesn’t achieve its goal…
Second fear : the war. The world has changed a bit since last year and even if we’ve had proves of climate change all around the world, priorities have changed. And gas has become an even more strategic component.
Which leads us to the third problem : greed. Banks are made to make money and money is in oil and gas right now, so they go where the money is.
Conclusion : We’re fucked up because $$$
Join the Compare Ethics community
by Phil
Abbie Morris, co-founder and CEO of Compare Ethics, a Product Intelligence and Compliance platform that enables businesses to manage, verify, and communicate product impact claims at scale.
Companies claim to be “sustainable” and “environmentally friendly”, but how can they prove it? Not only do consumers want to support sustainable brands, but stakeholder demands and fast-changing global regulations are on the rise, which is putting pressure on businesses to back up their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) claims. Compare Ethics helps companies build trust and transparency by verifying products, providing data-focused insights, and attributing scaleable ratings. This is great for businesses as it reduces the risk and cost of compliance with impact regulations.
Compare Ethics has also built their own retail enterprise community with over 200 businesses participating, and welcome others to join the movement.
The story? Abbie Morris spent a decade working in sustainability, with a focus on policy and consulting, having previously worked with her clients at the United Nations, World Economic Forum and Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Abbie and her co-founder James Omisakin, an innovation and product specialist, were concerned with global impact and the effects of investing in sustainability at scale. Through Compare Ethics, they are empowering all stakeholders to make better choices that will have a net positive impact on the world.
Bonus track by Anthony
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